Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Genesis 28:12‭-‬15 NKJV

I just wanted to point out that God gave Jacob a dream that was personal to him. It’s was specifically designed for his future and his children’s future.

Don’t ever underestimate the dreams God gave you. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how exhaustive your journey has been, God made a promise, a covenant promise to bring you into a place that only He can bring you.

His direction may not make sense. But your ability to listen and follow that direction will bring about the future He’s promised you. All of the greats before you had go through stuff. You’re no exception!

There’s only one thing you need to remember; He will do what He said He would do in His time, not yours.

So stop looking at your current location and your impossible situation and look at the God whose Word never fails. It always does what He said to do, and that’s final. Your outcome was determined by God, not you. Trusting Him is the only thing He requires of you.

Sandy G

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:6‭-‬7 TPT

God is unimpressed with puny faithless prayers, but He will move heaven and earth to answer desperate faith filled prayers.

God’s excited when we pour our hearts out to Him. He loves the relationship we choose to have with Him. Just as we treasure relationship with our children, He treasures ours with His.

It’s what guarantees His all-encompassing peace. The peace that guards our hearts and stills our minds so that even the most evil schemes of the enemy will not disturb or take us from the stillness He provides.

Give Him all the details He longs to hear, then know that He will keep you in perfect peace when your mind is stayed on Him.

Sandy G

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. II Timothy 1:7 NKJV

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7 AMPC

We live in a real and natural world where what we see, smell, taste, and feel has become our reality. But for just one moment, I’d like to challenge you to flip your normal mindset and shift your reality a bit.

Did you know that God sees things differently than you? First of all, He knows the end from the beginning, so He operates with an advantage we don’t have. I’m pretty sure that God’s never surprised by anything. You may be, but He is not.

So if Satan’s job is to deceive us by getting us to put more stock in the natural, he’s doing a pretty good job of it. Look around you. There’s not one of us who hasn’t been convinced that our reality is more real than God’s word.

If you want to kick fear in the face, start putting more stock in the God who never lies, never leaves, has the power to hold universes together, heals, saves, and delivers. Do I need to go on?

I challenge you today to change your mind about what’s real. If you’re facing an impossible situation, remember that nothing is impossible with God. If Satan has determined that your future is hopeless, remember that God has given you a future and a hope.

Sandy G

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5 NASB2020

That’s a mouthful right there. Perhaps it would be easier to understand if we take a moment to break it down a bit. Maybe taking small nibbles to make it easier to digest.

Let’s begin with what it means to trust. It’s a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone. And it clearly says to trust with all your heart. Not a little. Not when it suits you. But when life gets twisted and you can’t see what’s in front of you.

It continues with not leaning on our own understanding. I believe this is a crucial part of surviving the storms of life that creep up on us, threatening to wipe out the very foundation of trust we’ve built.

Why, you ask? Because if we rely on our own understanding, it will lead us towards doubt, unbelief, and an attempt to overthink and even overthrow what Gods plans are for us.

That’s what caused me to ask for greater understanding. It led me into a rapid replay of my lifes journey. Everything I’ve gone through set me up for a purpose God had that I couldn’t understand or see at the time.

When I stopped assuming and started truly trusting, I began to see that what I went through had changed me. It made me more relatable. God took the very things that tried to destroy me and turned them into treasure.

We will never know the mind of God. His thoughts far exceed ours. His ways and purposes take everything into consideration. We see a small part, yet we think we have it all figured out. Silly us.

God, give us the ability to totally trust your hidden agendas. To place our tiny hands in your big ones and continue walking when we don’t see what’s ahead for us. May each step create deeper trust in your ability to take us where we’ll be best used for your purposes.

Sandy G

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11‭-‬13 NKJV

God knows me. He knows my thoughts, my fears, and my needs. But He steps that up when He says, “I know the thoughts I think toward you.”

What kind of thoughts does God have about me? For me? Well, He starts with peace and not evil. So He sends peace into our lives. Anything that messes up my peace is not from God. It’s evil in its nature and disturbing in its hold on my mind.

His thoughts are good towards me. He wants to prosper me and give me great success. He wants me to experience wholeness in my spirit, soul, and body. To give me a future and hope.

The enemy may have conspired against me. He may be relentless in his pursuit of me. But God has other plans for me, and I trust those words over the lies of my enemies. He’s prepared a table for me in the presence of my enemies. I will feast in His promises regardless of what I’m looking at today.

Then I will call on Him, and He will answer me. I will pray, and He will listen because He can not turn a deaf ear to my voice. I’m His child, and He hears me. My Father has big plans for me, and absolutely nothing will stand in the way of those plans to come to pass.

Keep your hope securely in Him.

Sandy G

Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they brought destruction on the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem. Now at evening time David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. So David sent servants and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers and had her brought, and when she came to him, he slept with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. But the woman conceived; so she sent word and informed David, and said, “I am pregnant.” 2 Samuel 11:1‭-‬5 NASB2020

If you’re unfamiliar with the story of Davids sin and how God exposed it, forgave him, and punished him, I encourage you to read it. Perhaps it will refresh your memory of the ability God has to love, forgive, and wipe slates clean.

You may ask me where these thoughts came from. Let me explain a conversation I had with friends on Friday a week ago.

The subject was sexual sin committed by a leader of a large prayer ministry, and the comment was made that they could no longer listen to their music or receive inspiration from their teachings.

As I sat and listened to the conversation, Holy Spirit spoke to me, “Remember David’s sin and how God dealt with it?”

I didn’t comment at the time, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that God was trying to show me something. Not until I asked did I hear these words: “What right does man have to hold onto what I’ve forgiven?”

Here’s what I believe we’ve forgotten; And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 NKJV

It’s a tool Satan has used from the beginning of time, and we continue to fall into its deception. We’d rather throw the baby out with the bathwater than believe that God forgives and forgets. We’ve drawn a redaction through those words as if they don’t apply.

So how do we do this? How can we right a wrong that we’ve helped create? How? We first repent for our unforgiveness. We ask for restoration and mercy for what Satan has tried to destroy. Then we stop spreading rumors and remind others of where they would be if people kept their secrets alive.

Father, let it begin with me. May others experience your love and mercy through me. May forgiveness come from my lips, and may my heart be pure so that your unconditional love is always evident. In Jesus name, Amen

Sandy G

Do you remember that uncomfortable pressure you felt when it’s time to leave a place and move on? You no longer feel you belong. Like when you left home to get married and you go back for a visit. It’s good to be there, but you no longer have the sense of ‘belonging’ anymore. They’ve re-purposed your old room, moved on with their lifestyle, no longer do they live their lives revolved around you.

Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you with me, so that you can be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4

This world is not our home. We’re simply here on assignment. Consider it a very temporary one. You can still enjoy the visit, forge relationships, share meals, even marry and have children, but your final destination is a house Jesus is preparing for us. There will always be a room there that is your own. Never re-purposed.

Today, as you go about your Fathers business, keep your eyes and ears open for your next assignment, but don’t allow the things of this world to be what keeps you here. We are not of this world. Let’s do life for God so that when it’s time, we’ll be welcomed back where our real home is and enjoy the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sandy G

O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and nursing infants to give you praise. They silence your enemies who were seeking revenge. Psalm 8:1-2

Think about that. The power of praise! Children & infants praising God will silence your enemies.

I think of the many times when Israel sent the praisers into battle first. Praise must make you fearless too because I can’t imagine being on the front line in war with a trumpet. Praise paralyses opposition.

I can still see my mom in the middle of very extreme situations as she lifted her hands and praised, saying, “Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory!” Praise gets the attention of God. He will always respond and rescue those who praise His Name!

Perhaps you’re facing an obstacle today. Whatever it is, praise your way through, God will show you a way out.

We lift our voices this morning in radical praise to the only God who is worthy! All glory to Your name. Nothing is too difficult for You! Every knee will bow to Your powerful name. Thank you for victory. It belongs to You.

Sandy G

And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. Revelation 12:11 NASB

What Jesus did for us by shedding His blood gave us complete victory over every enemy we face. Not some, but EVERY. This scripture shows us that in three parts;

1. They understood the value of the shed blood and the power in it.
2. They understood the power of their words.
3. They understood that they belonged to God completely, servants of another Kingdom, ambassadors of heaven, and that to leave this world would only take them home.

It’s one thing to accept the part that Jesus gave His life for you, but it’s yet another to take up your own cross and follow Him.

What about you, my friend? Are you truly serious about your walk with God? Is it a convenience factor, or are you completely His? Did you sign the contract with God to get the good stuff, or did you understand that the contract was to forfeit all for the Kingdom of God?

May you become the overcomer in your family, your job, your world. May the words you speak testify of God’s goodness, grace, and mercy. May signs follow in the form of astounding miracles as you touch unbelievers everywhere. And may those miracles be saturated in the love of God He freely gives.

Sandy G

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down. “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation.” Psalm 91 NASB

Someone needs to read this today and know that they are not only loved by the Father, but they’re safely protected by the Father. There is nowhere you can go that God does not go with you.

Feelings can’t trump the Word. Regardless of how loud they scream, God’s Word is louder. When you read these verses today, put your name in it. Make it personal. It’s your covenant promise from a covenant keeping God.

Today, I will dwell in the shelter of the most high God. I will say, “You’re my refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust.” He will delivers me from everything that would try to harm me. Every virus, every disease, anything that would try to rise up against me, You will put it down!

You get the picture. Make these verses your own treasure. Speak them over yourself, your family, even those in countries that are constantly being threatened and their lives are in constant danger. Encourage them to stay grounded on the Word that never fails.

Have a wonderful week and know that I’m praying for you.

Sandy G